Brown v. Board of Education ruling marks 70 years
May 17, 2024, 8:35 AM | Updated: 1:16 pm
WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 16: Plaintiffs and family members of plaintiffs in the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court case Cheryl Brown Henderson (C), John Stokes (2nd L) and Nathaniel Briggs (R) speaks outside the White House with NAACP President Derrick Johnson (L) after meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden on May 16, 2024 in Washington, DC. This week marks the 70th anniversary of the landmark case that ended the segregation of students based on race in the United States. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
(Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY — It has been 70 years since the Supreme Court’s landmark Brown v. Board of Education ruling. The unanimous May 17, 1954 decision, stated segregation in American schools was unconstitutional.
Jeanetta Williams, President of the NAACP Salt Lake Branch, told KSL NewsRadio that she went to a segregated school when she first started going to school. That school was later integrated.
“It is illegal now to have segregated schools where black children can’t go to school with white children,”
“Even after that happened there was a lot of schools that didn’t want to have the integrated school and a lot of them closed down. Some just made it really hard for African American teachers to even find jobs.”
Brown v. Board of Education ruling
The ruling, written by Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren stated in part: “We conclude that, in the field of public education, the doctrine of “separate but equal” has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal. Therefore, we hold that the plaintiffs and others similarly situated for whom the actions have been brought are, because of the segregation complained of, deprived of the equal protection of the laws guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment.”
The U.S. Department of Education took to social media to mark the decision.
On May 17, 1954 – 70 years ago today – Brown v. Board opened the door for countless students by closing the door on legal segregation in our nation’s schools.
Use @USNatArchives resources, including the text of the decision, to teach about #BrownvBoard: https://t.co/9smWIrdr4M pic.twitter.com/FGsXSUBocm
— U.S. Department of Education (@usedgov) May 17, 2024
Related: No charges filed in racist incident against Utah’s women’s basketball team, NAACP responds
Jeanetta Williams, President of the NAACP Salt Lake Branch
